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The amount of Canadians using this job luxury has grown to one-fifth of the workforce. Usually the educated staff

On Tuesday December 7, 2010, 12:25 pm EST

About 3.6 million Canadians have the luxury of wandering down the hallway in their pyjamas to start their work days, suggests a report released Tuesday showing a rise in home office use.

Statistics Canada's report says the number of people working at home is evenly split between the self-employed and those paid by companies. Together, they comprise 19 per cent of the workforce, up two per cent in eight years.

The greatest increase is in the number of self-employed people working at home. In 2008, when the study was conducted, there were 1.8 million, up from 1.4 million in 2000.

One of the greatest factors in determining who gets to work from home appears to be education. Fifty-four per cent of people working from home have a university degree, compared to the 25 per cent who have a degree but never work from home.

Another key factor is the individual's role within an organization.

Fifty-five per cent of people working at home, at least occasionally, are in professional or management jobs, compared to 23 per cent of people who are in higher-ranking positions but never work from home, the study indicates.

The most common reason for working at home, cited by 25 per cent of employees, is that they're required to, and 23 per cent said their homes provide better working conditions.